Hand Washing

[Heretic]

Ok I don't know if this is the right area but I'm getting tired of seeing the pushing of the Mysophobic and bacteriophobic product commercials on the TV. Like this one HERE. Doesn't the general population know that after you touch your soap pump you wash away the germs along with the dirt. How about the fact that some bacteria may develop a resistance to antibacterial components in the antibacterial soaps and how many are actual patient enough to keep washing their hands for at least 2 minutes to get the active ingredients to work. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), antibacterial soaps are not necessary, but washing your hands thoroughly with ordinary soap and warm water is one of the most effective ways to ward off infection.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-ca ... ion692.htm

http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/How_To_HandWash_Poster.pdf

[dissent]

hey, here in America, we want it instant, and we want it easy!!

[null0010]

i loathe antibacterial soaps

[Canuck]

We have too much antibacterial everything... and this does lead to breeding all types antibacterial resistant critters.


* Topic
Oh and I wash my hands too. I think just the Ph change of the water alone kills over 90% of bugs alone, adding soaps and such gets us the higher numbers.

[TechPro]

Place I work at got pretty obsessed with the antibacterial thing a while back, now they have the little dispensers just about everywhere (or so it would seem).

As usual, there is one in every restroom where people can use it as they are about to exit. I see people step up to the sinks to wash their hands, then dry them, then squirt antibacterial stuff on their hand ... and leave a nice gooey antibacterial hand print on the door as they leave.

After a full day of work, who wants to touch the door? Not me.

[Avder]

There actually seems to be evidence that autoimmune disorders (allergies, asthma, etc), can be attributed to the fact that moms dont want their kids to be dirty at all. Their immune systems never get properly activated, so it ends up malfunctioning.

Who knew that mud pies were good for you after all?

[snoopy]

Place I work at got pretty obsessed with the antibacterial thing a while back, now they have the little dispensers just about everywhere (or so it would seem).

As usual, there is one in every restroom where people can use it as they are about to exit. I see people step up to the sinks to wash their hands, then dry them, then squirt antibacterial stuff on their hand ... and leave a nice gooey antibacterial hand print on the door as they leave.

After a full day of work, who wants to touch the door? Not me.

I open the large majority of doors that swing away from me with my foot. I'm not sure why I developed the habit, (I'm not worried or afraid of germs) but somehow I did.

I'm not convinced about the autoimmune thing. I've been hearing that for a long time. Generally, having kids not die of silly things like they used to is a good thing.

[woodchip]

I say bring back good 'ol strong lye soap.

[Avder]

Getting sick is what made a lot of our immune systems strong to begin with. Back in European cities, amongst all the germs and filth, it was pure natural selection, which forged a strong, resilient immune system in people who have ancestry from there.

Not dying of stupid stuff is of course a good thing, and we have vaccines for a lot of the baddies, but keeping a kid away from dirt and the like in relentless pursuit of perfect health is counterproductive. Vaccines work by allowing the immune system to adapt to a certain contagion, activating it, if you will.

Exposure to dirt and germs and other materials allows the immune system to look at everything and see whats really harmful and what isn't. Its a crash course for your body, if you will. If you don't get that crash course, it follows that things wont work quite right and your body ends up reacting to things that should be harmless such as peanuts. And we all know how lethal peanut allergies can be at this point, don't we?

In addition, if you disinfect everything in sight, you end up with supergerms eventually. Same if you force the doctor to put your kid on antibiotics for every little sniffle. The germs adapt and become immune to the things that are supposed to kill them. Certain diseases are making a comeback inside hospitals because the bacteria have evolved immunities to the antibiotics we use to eradicate them.

What it amounts to is an arms race between our immune systems and the infectious diseases in the world. Our immune systems usually win, but many times we end up slaughtered because some disease got way ahead of things (the plague, the flu outbreaks of the early 1900's, etc). Antibiotics, disinfectants, and antivirals are all great in moderation, but if they are used to completely replace the natural function of the immune systems, the immune system will end up blindsided when those germs get stronger and are no longer held in check by the treatments we have.

[Tunnelcat]

Place I work at got pretty obsessed with the antibacterial thing a while back, now they have the little dispensers just about everywhere (or so it would seem).

As usual, there is one in every restroom where people can use it as they are about to exit. I see people step up to the sinks to wash their hands, then dry them, then squirt antibacterial stuff on their hand ... and leave a nice gooey antibacterial hand print on the door as they leave.

After a full day of work, who wants to touch the door? Not me.

Ewwwwwww! That brought back memories of what doctors and nurses are actually doing in hospitals to stop the spread of disease. When I visited a sick relative recently, every time a nurse or doctor came into the room and had contact with the patient, ALL they did was slather that antibacterial crap on their hands (there was a convenient bottle hanging on the wall), and they didn't even wipe off the residue. So instead of using the room sink to WASH their hands, whenever they touched the patient, he got a slimy smear of hand sanitizer on everything that was touched, equipment, food, hands, mouth, etc. Just plain lazy and disgusting.

There actually seems to be evidence that autoimmune disorders (allergies, asthma, etc), can be attributed to the fact that moms dont want their kids to be dirty at all. Their immune systems never get properly activated, so it ends up malfunctioning

So true. I grew up in the sterile-obsessed 50's and 60's and I think that it caused me to develop the pretty bad allergies I now have.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 160901.htm

[null0010]

i only wash my hands right before eating and after using the restroom, and never with antibacterial soaps, and i haven't had a serious illness at any point in the last 20 years.